Moyes faces big decision on backroom staff

require, despite Allardyce understood to have been operating with a limited budget.

“They have given me some guarantees and reassurances about what we can do, because let’s be fair, we’ve got a big club which we need to take forward, and make sure we aren’t celebrating staying up. That can’t be the goal,” said Moyes in a club website interview over the weekend.

Moyes – who is not expected to do any press interviews during Sunderland’s time in France – will also have to decide on the make-up of his backroom team.

Assistant manager Paul Bracewell and first-team coach Robbie Stockdale took charge at Rotherham, with the latter particularly highly-rated by both the club and the players.

But former England star Gary Neville is understood to be one of the names under consideration to join Moyes, who took Phil Neville, Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden with him to Manchester United after ending his 12-year stint at Everton.

Gary Neville – currently on holiday in Majorca – resigned as an assistant to departed England boss Roy Hodgson last month after an ill-fated spell in charge of Valencia last season.

However, Moyes’s arrival will not affect Sunderland’s bid to offload the club’s dead-wood, with negotiations continuing with Championship club Leeds United over the sale of midfielder Liam Bridcutt.

Sunderland are keen to bank a fee in excess of £1million for Bridcutt, who impressed Leeds during his six-month loan stint at Elland Road last season.

Sunderland’s friendly against Stade Nyonnais tonight is their first against Swiss opposition since a 3-2 win over Neuchatel Xamax on August 1, 1979 – the last match of a tour which saw the Red and Whites outgun Lucerne and secure draws against both Lausanne Sport and Berne.